Seal.



PATENTED SEPT. 17, 1907.

, T. J. OBRIEN.

SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2a. 1906.

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SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1907.

Application filed July 23, 1906. Serial No. 327,443.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs J. OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Seals, of which the following is a specication..

My invention relates to a seal for surrounding an envelop inclosing a document or other material which inust be broken when the package is opened; and the object thereof is to produce a simple, inexpensive and efficient seal to prevent the contents of a package being tampered with without showing' that the same has been opened. I

Heretofore letters and packages have been sealed in various Ways such as b y mucilage and sealing Wax, but these seals have been found ineffective lby reason of the fact that various means have been found for unsealing and again resealing the package or envelop in perfect imitation of the original method of sealing.

With my improved seal before the package can be opened the seal itself must be broken and the same cannot be reunited so as to escape detection.

In the drawings forming a part of this application Figure 1.- is a perspective view partly broken away of the Wrapper used for inclosing a parcel, which parcel has been omitted for clearness of illustration1 with my improved seal applied thereto. Fig. 2.- is a perspective view of the seal detached from the package ready for use.

In Fig. l I have shown the fragment of a sheet of wrapping paper wrapped upon aparcel with my package seal applied thereto, the parcel being removed for clearness of illustration. iirst fold the sheet of wrapping paper 3 upon the parcel in the same manner that I would do if the wrapping paper was to be secured thereon by tying it with string in the ordinary well known manner. I use a sheet of wrapping paper of sufficient size that when the ends of the paper are tucked in or folded that the last Hap 4 of one end will overlap the last ilap 5 of the other end as shown in Fig. l. I then cut slits 6 and 7 in the body of the wrapping paper opposite the flaps and like slits l5 and 16 through the overlapped ends of the iaps. I then form a seal which preferably is formed from tough fibrous paper, but which must be flexible and form end pieces 8 and 9 which are preferably in the shape of parallelogram. The end pieces are united by a narrow band lO-whieh is of a width to pass through the slits in the flaps. The band is of a length to pass from the inside of the Wrapper through a slit 7 near the top, then up and over and` down to the flaps 4 and 5 and then inwardly through the slits l5 in the aps on one side In preparing a package I and outwardly through the slits 16 on the other side of the same flaps and then to pass aroundthe package to the other side thereof and to enter the slits on that side as illustrated in Fig. l. To the outer ends of the end pieces S and 9 of the seal I secure cords l1 and l2 having on their outer ends needles I3 and 14. I then roll one of the end pieces, preferably 9, into a narrow flat roll as shown in Fig. 2, so as to be able to pass the same through the slits 7-l5l6 and 6. The needles 13 and 14 are then inserted through slit 6 in opposite directions and through the opposite ends of the wrapper when the end pieces of the seal can be unfolded by pulling on the needles and cord so that it Will assume a flat position as shown in Fig. l between the parcel and paper when the cords may be cut off. After the cords are cut the wrapper is perfectly sealed upon the parcel and the package cannot be opened unless the seal is broken. lf a package has its seal broken the person receiving the same will know that it has been tampered. with. The seal is preferably made of tough brous paper but any other suitable material may be used. The end pieces are preferably parallelograms, but may be rof any other shape, pr oviding the edge adjacent the band is at such an angle with relation to the band that when flat or unfolded the same will not pass through the slit formed in the paper wrapper. A wrapper of this character may be used to inclose a letter or other document. The needles and cords may be secured to the end piece by passing the same through the end piece and having a knot 17 tied in the end of the cord to prevent it pulling therethrough until the end piece is unrolled in the package, when if desired the cord could be pulled out of the end piece and out of the package.

Havingdeseribed my invention what I claim is l. A seal for packages composed of Wide fiat ends united by a narrow band of iiexible material; cords secured at one of the ends; and needles secured to the cords.

2. The combination of a wrapper having slits therein with a seal composed of Wide dat ends united by a narrow band, said seal being of flexible material, said ends being adapted to be folded to pass through the slits in the wrapper and then to be unrolled and thereby be locked therein.

3. The combination of a wrapper having slits therein with a seal composed of wide at ends united by a narrow band of flexible material; cords secured to one of the ends of said seal; and needles secured to said cords.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 16 day of July, 1906.

THOMAS J. OBRIEN.

Witnesses G. E. HARPHAM, EDMUND A. STRAUSE. 

